Housing developers are charging an average of 5 per cent of a new property’s purchase price for an accompanying parking space, according to analysis by Direct Line.
A parking bay to accompany a new build property in London’s Battersea was being sold for £65,000 - 13 per cent of the property’s £500,000 listed purchase price.
Researchers analysed the availability and expense of purchasing a parking space in London across 100 new build property developments in October and November 2015, along with the availability and expense of purchasing a parking space across 130 new build property developments in cities outside of the capital.
In London, they found that parking spaces were only available and included in the purchase price of a new property 18 per cent of time.
In Leeds, Glasgow and Bristol, parking spaces were included in the purchase price of a new property 67 per cent of the time.
In many cases, developers were found to impose controls even within new build developments, only allowing buyers of large or expensive properties to purchase a parking bay.
A new wharf development in Hammersmith, for example, only allows parking spaces to be purchased for properties valued at more than £1.5m, while developers in areas of London such as Stratford, Ealing, Greenwich, Elephant & Castle and Wembley Park restricted spaces in new developments to those buying a property with at least two bedrooms.
The same practice was also applied in cities such as Leeds and Nottingham.
Where parking spaces cannot be purchased, some developers offer annual permits to rent out parking bays.
Spaces in Brixton accompanying new build apartments costing £577,000 were available for just £104 a year, whereas in Bristol, a parking permit to accompany a £425,000 property was available for £1,400.
Direct Line found huge variations even within cities, for example in Brighton’s Marina Village a permit for a £775,000 property was £250, while elsewhere in the city a space accompanying a £410,000 apartment costs £1,000 a year.
Nick Brabham, head of the firm’s Premier Insurance line, explained as larger scale residential developments are built in urban city centres, traffic volumes will become an increasing issue and planners may restrict the construction of new parking bays even further, making it very difficult for homeowners with vehicles.
He said: “The limited access to affordable parking spaces in many cities is becoming a serious issue, which is why we are seeing a growth in people renting out their driveways and spaces to other motorists.”
peter.walker@ft.com
